2018 was a great year for the US video game industry according to the NPD Group. Overall, industry spending in the US was up 13% over 2017, with total spending reaching $16.67 billion over 2017's. The video game industry is in a perpetual state of change, and microtransactions have had the most significant impact.Game developers have learned to take advantage of this new revenue source.

Video games used to operate like big-budget films. The games underwent years of development with rigorous testing and debugging before the final product was released. Then the industry was revolutionized by the concept of online connectivity. Additions such as downloadable content (DLC) proved to be instrumental in getting gamers to pay for products after the game had already been released. DLC is part of gaming's secondary market and a precursor to what gamers know now as microtransactions.

What Is a Microtransaction?

A microtransaction is a business model where users can purchase virtual items for small amounts of money. Microtransactions often appear in free-to-play games, meaning there is no cost to download the game, just a cost to buy the online virtual products.

The video game industry is in a perpetual state of change, and microtransactions have had the most significant impact. Game developers have learned to take advantage of this new revenue source. It is estimated that only 5 to 20% of game communities take part in microtransactions, and the amounts they spend vary. However, this is still a significant amount, as the revenue generated is enormous for free-to-play games. Executives at these companies aim to monetize the player base that is not partaking in the microtransaction community for driving further growth.

Video Games For Computer Free

Companies That Benefit From Microtransactions

The video game industry reached a record of $36 billion in revenue for 2017, according to data from the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) and the NPD Group.

Riot, the company that owns and runs the online game 'League of Legends' (LOL) benefits tremendously from microtransactions. LOL is played by tens of millions of people worldwide, and it is completely free to download and play. Almost all of its revenue comes from in-game purchases.

LOL allows for the purchase of Riot Points, and this in-game currency is then used to buy skins, which are different aesthetic choices for the in-game characters. The in-game currency can also be used to unlock different characters. These options can often be unlocked with extended gameplay, but the microtransactions offer an incentive to unlock them quickly.

Many of these microtransactions come from a small amount of the player base since most gamers choose not to take part in microtransactions.

Epic Games release of Fortnite has proven to be a huge success. Fortnite is a free-to-play game where a maximum of 100 players join a match and fight until the last person or squad remains. Like LOL, it relies upon in-game purchases for skins and power-ups. Epic announced in May 2018 that they were planning to provide $100 million in prize pool money for their upcoming season of eSports competitions.

The Rise of eSports

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) is a classic example of an eSports game that also features microtransactions. It was released in 2012 and launched at $14.99 – a cost that doesn't qualify as free-to-play but is small relative to the $50 to $70 price tag of most big games.

Its high-budget counterparts such as 'Call of Duty' and 'Halo 4' outpaced CS:GO, and its player base began to slide until the company introduced something completely cosmetic that added a new aesthetic flair to the game.

CS:GO is a first-person shooter that introduced skins for its guns. This added an entirely new economic dynamic to the game. At the end of each game, players were awarded random crates of weapons, and they could only be opened with a key that cost $2.49. Once the crates were opened, players would get multiple random weapon skins or rare items.

Introducing this to the game led to an increase in popularity and reignited its reputation among fans. Tournaments have prize pools of these items, and there is even an in-game economy being created around this feature that has real-world economic consequences.

Microtransactions assist in integrating a real-world market into in-game economies.

For example, Fortnite uses an in-game virtual currency called 'v-bucks' that its players can either earn through gameplay or purchase using real cash (or credit). V-bucks are used to purchase items such as skins and to unlock several hidden features within the game. On top of that, Fortnite players may also purchase a 'battle pass' to accumulate game awards and advance through the game's tiers more quickly.

There is also a CS:GO community of professional players who make real money, receive items that are paid for with real currency, and win cash prizes. The microtransaction-based approach is at the forefront of the industry to make money off of video games.

MTX Mototrax (originally under the working title Travis Pastrana's Pro MotoX) is a Motocross video game made by Left Field Productions and published by Activision for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox in 2004. It was released for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X (Europe only) later that year. Both the Windows and OS X versions were developed and published by Aspyr. It was released in 2006 for the PlayStation Portable. The game was also set for release for the Nintendo GameCube console in 2004 but was later canceled. It was also planned to be released for the Tapwave Zodiac, but that was canceled as well when Tapwave went out of business. It features many of the top AMA Supercross/Motocross racers and X Games Freestylers of that time (2004), including Travis Pastrana, Nate Adams, Kenny Bartram, Carey Hart, Chad Reed, Tim Ferry, Mike Brown, Ezra Lusk, and many more. The first level in career mode is held at Pastrana's house.

Reception[edit]

The game received 'generally favorable reviews' on all platforms except the PSP version, which received 'average' reviews, according to video game review aggregatorMetacritic.^{[18][19][20][21]}

References[edit]

1. ^ ^abEGM staff (May 2004). 'MTX Mototrax (PS2, Xbox)'. Electronic Gaming Monthly (178): 88.
2. ^ ^ab'MTX Mototrax (PS2, Xbox)'. Game Informer (132): 89. April 2004.
3. ^Four-Eyed Dragon (June 2004). 'MTX: Mototrax Review for PS2 on GamePro.com'. GamePro: 71. Archived from the original on February 12, 2005. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
4. ^ ^abGerstmann, Jeff (March 4, 2004). 'MTX Mototrax Review (PS2, Xbox)'. GameSpot. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
5. ^Mueller, Greg (July 12, 2006). 'MTX Mototrax Review (PSP)'. GameSpot. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
6. ^ ^abLeeper, Justin (March 11, 2004). 'GameSpy: MTX: Mototrax (PS2, Xbox)'. GameSpy. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
7. ^Giacobbi, Kevin 'BIFF' (December 16, 2004). 'MTX Mototrax - PC - Review'. GameZone. Archived from the original on April 4, 2008. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
8. ^Lafferty, Michael (March 2, 2004). 'MTX: Mototrax - PS2 - Review'. GameZone. Archived from the original on March 19, 2008. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
9. ^Bedigian, Louis (March 18, 2004). 'MTX: Mototrax - XB - Review'. GameZone. Archived from the original on May 27, 2008. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
10. ^Lewis, Ed (November 8, 2004). 'MTX: Mototrax (PC)'. IGN. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
11. ^Lewis, Ed (March 3, 2004). 'MTX: Mototrax (PS2)'. IGN. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
12. ^Castro, Juan (July 10, 2006). 'MTX Mototrax Review (PSP)'. IGN. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
13. ^Lewis, Ed (March 4, 2004). 'MTX: Mototrax (Xbox)'. IGN. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
14. ^'MTX Mototrax (PS2)'. Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine: 100. May 2004.
15. ^'MTX Mototrax (PSP)'. Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine: 92. October 2006.
16. ^'MTX Mototrax'. Official Xbox Magazine: 76. May 2004.
17. ^'MTX Mototrax'. PC Gamer: 74. February 2005.
18. ^ ^ab'MTX Mototrax for PC Reviews'. Metacritic. Retrieved March 13, 2016.
19. ^ ^ab'MTX Mototrax for PlayStation 2 Reviews'. Metacritic. Retrieved March 13, 2016.
20. ^ ^ab'MTX Mototrax for PSP Reviews'. Metacritic. Retrieved March 13, 2016.
21. ^ ^ab'MTX Mototrax for Xbox Reviews'. Metacritic. Retrieved March 13, 2016.

External links[edit]

Video Game Mtx 2

• MTX Mototrax at MobyGames
• MTX Mototrax (PlayStation Portable) at MobyGames

Video Game Mix Ups